A DETERMINED mother today revealed how she fitted her own CCTV to catch the former boyfriend who targeted her daughter.
Kim Welding fitted the hi-tech system to the front of her house to catch a man she believed had been harassing teenage daughter Kelly. The next day the camera, backed up by a bright spotlight trained on the front yard, caught Kelly's ex-boyfriend vandalising the family car.
Lee Blackburn, 28, has since pleaded guilty in court to causing £200 damage to the Vauxhall Corsa and is due to be sentenced next month.
Single mum Kim, 42, who lives with Kelly in Selborne Street, Redlam, Blackburn, said: "We brought him into our home and fed him. We paid for a holiday and for clothes for him, and he repays us like this.
"It has spoilt our Christmas now and we will just have to make the most of it. But we won't be going out much."
The family said they been forced to change their home telephone number twice and now use a call barring system.
Blackburn magistrates heard how 18-year-Kelly, who is a second-year student at Preston College studying fitness and development, split up with Lee Blackburn in October after a row.
Since then, there had been a number of incidents, the court was told.
The family was forced to call the police the day before the car was scratched when their front window was smashed with a rock, the court heard.
Blackburn, of Revidge Road, was caught by the home-operated CCTV equipment at around 1.30am on Monday, December 8, sneaking up to put long scratches in the paintwork of the car before running off.
Kelly said: "I don't want to go out. He was just getting away with it because we had no proof. But the camera caught him doing the car and he had to admit it."
Kim added: "I fitted the camera on the Sunday and then on Monday we woke up and the car was scratched.
"Something woke me up about 1.20am but I didn't dare look through the window. The next day I checked the video. I did it for our protection and it worked."
But the family has been left shaken by their ordeal.
Kim said: "Kelly is frightened to death, she won't go out anywhere now. I have to take her to work and she won't go out with her mates or anything.
"He's a 28-year-old man, he should know better. Kelly's 18 and she's just starting her life."
Inspector Stuart Bruce, of Blackburn police, said that CCTV cameras can be a helpful addition to a home.
"A lot of people fit cameras as part of their household domestic security systems," he said.
"It has to be said that the evidence they obtain when incidents do happen is extremely useful. A picture paints a thousand words."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article